Anybody got a cement mixer? How to clean the inside? (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

I was kindly gifted a used cement/concrete mixer. Much appreciated and will be put to good use for sure. It does have a fair bit of dried concrete inside the barrel, though. I'd rather not start by banging on it with a hammer as it'll probably dent the steel. So I was thinking of trying first to clean it by having it rotate with sharp small rocks inside. Golf ball size maybe. Anybody done that? Any chance it'll work in a reasonably short period of time or is that likely hopeless? And, yes, I realize that will probably make an ungodly racket, but I can wait until my evil neighbor has a garden party...

 

[PIP]

Rocks and chunks of steel. Cement mixers are popular to be used as tumblers for cleaning mill scale from and smoothing sharp edges on steel parts. You'll want to use a little bit of water and flush the sludge out frequently.

Mild acid might work too. I'm not a chemist, but I know battery acid does a number on a nice concrete floor.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Please my ears are bleeding. It's concrete, not cement. Cement is an ingredient in concrete. Now that I have that out of the way, I would bang on it with a deadblow and call it a day. You might try muriatic acid while running it but that might take a long time. Not sure how detrimental muriatic acid would be to the metal, probably not too bad short term but could be problematic longer term. I would definitely neutralize the acid and spray some kind of coating afterwards (e.g. WD40, Diesel Fuel, etc.).

Lastly, sandblasting would work assuming you have the equipment.

 

[PIP]

Please my ears are bleeding.

A concrete mixer is a mixer to mix cement with a myriad of other medias, therefore it is in fact a cement mixer.

 

[e9999]

Acid is an interesting idea, but, yes, I'm thinking too that might take a very long time. Unless it's something that I probably should not mess with.

Maybe I should try the Mythbusters approach to dried concrete loads...? That would be faster!

 

[Eyedaho]

Acid is an interesting idea, but, yes, I'm thinking too that might take a very long time. Unless it's something that I probably should not mess with.

Maybe I should try the Mythbusters approach to dried concrete loads...? That would be faster!

Dynomite!

 

[kirvesmies]

Acid is an interesting idea, but, yes, I'm thinking too that might take a very long time. Unless it's something that I probably should not mess with.

Maybe I should try the Mythbusters approach to dried concrete loads...? That would be faster!

we want pictures!!

 

[kirvesmies]

back in my misspent youth working for pops, he figured out i was hungover as f%$k, my job that day was to clean out a mortar mixer that he'd got for a steal.95. he handed me a brick hammer n pointy bodywork hammer. yeah, you know exactly where this is going......chip all that $h!t out that the p.o. was too lazy to clean out. motherf#&ker it was a b!tch. i saw that same mixer 20yrs ago in use when i went to visit the old boy, it was clean as a whistle as he was fastidious in cleaning out when done.
re: tumbling to clean it, i'd try a 5gal bucketful of small metal slugs from a stamping plant, something 1"-11/2" x 1/4-3/8 plate

 

[e9999]

those slugs sound like that would work, but no stamping plant nearby that I know of. Although that reminded me that I do have a bucket of old railroad spikes someplace. Those might work too, being pointy and all.

As to Dyn(o)mite, just No. All the cool kids use C4 nowadays, and I want to be allowed to play with them someday!

 

[mrsleeve]

Beat on it from the outside with 4 to 8 lb hammer. Dump out chunks. It doesn’t have to be pristine or dent free to mix mortar or small batches of concrete. If you’re worried about a dented mixer drum on a small batch mixer like this, you really have a special kinda ocd. I have never seen one other than band new not full of dents and hammer marks.

Once you get it mostly chunck free with a few dents, you can keep it as ocd clean as you want. Using acid in a concentration high enough is going to be kinda dangerous for a home gamer situation and using stuff big and heavy enough to tumble in it to break it all up and get clean that way will very likely result in just as many if not more “OUTTY” dents. You can control your hammer strikes to lessen the “INY” dents depth and pattern something you’re not gonna get with a tumble effect.

Or crawl in it with a chipping hammer and chisel and 2lb er, having done all of theses methods other than the acid, in my younger days, I would live with the iny dents if I were you.